


Twisting Prophecy

by Person



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Destiny, Gen, families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 04:30:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Person/pseuds/Person
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane's brother had never been one to think of how his ideas would effect other people, but the latest birthday gift he'd sent her really took the cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twisting Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/gifts).



There were words which Jane knew were used about her, often in snippy tones and not quite behind her back enough. 'Spinster' and 'old maid' turned into 'career woman' and 'frigid' as times and attitudes changed, but the thought behind them was always the same; that she had wasted her life by focusing it on the company she hadn't even inherited in the end instead of on finding a good man and giving him a household full of children. But those words she could accept with ease, because she knew that they would only get worse if anyone were ever to learn _why_ she'd chosen the path she had followed through life.

Even though it had been years since she'd last seen him, and longer still since she'd last seen the fiendish guardian who'd filled her mind with thoughts of destinies thwarted and fates that should have been hers, Jane could not forget that there was someone out there that she was meant to have children with. Incredible children, who were supposed to save the world.

And how on Earth could she ever explain that she could never settle down with any man because she knew she was meant to have children with her own brother, in the eyes of the world if not through blood. A brother who could not want her in any case, considering the occasional hints he'd dropped to her about where his own interests lay. A brother who _she_ didn't even want that way, her stomach twisting unpleasantly at the idea of having children by him the usual way, only the knowledge of how important the children themselves were meant to be making her want them above anyone else's flesh and blood.

So Jane told herself that she'd given up any thoughts of a man who would wrap his arms around her, or a child she could hold in her own. She told herself it was better that way in any case; who knew what a mess would come from spitting in destiny's face even worse than they already had and having a child other than the ones she was meant to. She made herself go on thinking all these things, until the day a flustered-looking postman knocked at her door.

"Er, Jane Egbert?" he asked when she opened it, and at her nod he went on, "Package for you... in a manner of speaking. I'm not really sure if this is, uh, legal, but nobody's stopped it yet, so..." he thrust a slip at her to sign with no further explanation.

Perhaps she should have hesitated at the man's stammering questions of legality, but at the sight of her brother's name as the sender Jane signed without a second thought.  
"Then I'll just get your package for you, shall I?" the mail carrier asked, practically stumbling over his own feet in his haste to get his job over with.

Her first thought was that he couldn't possibly really be carrying what she thought he was. But, a propensity for pranksterism aside, she had always been a sensible woman. There was no way she could make herself think that he was carrying anything other than a bassinet, its bassinetishness simply could not be denied. The postman seemed to notice at once that her expression was something other than unabashed joy, but he just grimaced and set the 'package' on her doorstep. "You signed for it, ma'am, and I'm washing my hands of the whole affair. Enjoy or don't, it's not my business anymore."

Jane took careful note of his face, and of the name embroidered on his shirt; Marvin L. He seemed the type who'd need a surprise delivery of his own in return; a box of spring-loaded snakes, or a delicious-looking strawberry pie laced full of tabasco.

She sat on the stoop beside the bassinet, but didn't yet pull away the blanket covering it to reveal what must be beneath. Once she did that she'd need to start working out how to deal with it, and she wasn't sure she was in quite the right state for that just yet. Instead she plucked up the letter pinned to it, and unfolded it to reveal writing in the lurid green ink Jake had always favored.

"Janey, old girl!" she read, and just at the words could hear his voice as if it were right in her ear, brash and cheerful and beloved as it had ever been. "I wager you thought I'd forgotten your birthday, hadn't you? As though my best girl would ever slip my mind! I'm afraid it's only a little late because it was more difficult to get it to you than I'd been expect, strings unattached and red tape to cut through and all that bureaucratic rot, you understand.

"I know this must seem like a downright ridiculous thing to throw at you, Janey, but you have seemed rather adrift since The Batterwitch went and cut you out of the company when she up and vanished and this little lad was adrift as well. Literally, I'm afraid, found him floating down the Tagus with the body of a poor chit who was starting to get a bit whiffy, if you catch my meaning. Maybe if I were getting to the point of settling down, or he were old enough to trundle along on his own, I would take the lad on myself, but the life of globe-trotting adventurer is too rough-and-tumble for such a little fellow.

"If it makes you feel better you can tell yourself this is payback for that time you joshed me with the Smith & Wesson, the old partridge, and the shot laced with glitter, but I really do think this is the best solution old girl. Always thought you'd be a corking good mum if you had the chance, and the lad needs someone to take that chance, wot?

"Happy birthday, dear, and I do hope you won't plan your biggest jape yet as payback for it,

"Your Old Jake"

Jane set aside the letter and stared off at nothing for a moment, until first squawk came from the bassinet. It didn't seem like a complaining sound to her quite yet, more a questioning noise, a wondering about what was going on and whether there was need to get upset about it, and at that she finally drew back the blanket.

Dark eyes met hers, a tiny face scrunching up but still holding back any noise of complaint. She couldn't help but reach out and touch, her fingers ghosting over soft cheeks and tiny hands. For all that Jake had eluded to a troubled beginning for the poor little thing, he didn't seem the worse for wear after a trip down the river and then through the postal system. "You'll learn before long that your uncle does things like this," she told him seriously, knowing that the words themselves were an acceptance of the burden that had suddenly been thrust upon her, but what else could she do? "He has a good heart, and he wants to make people happy, but he is a terrible failure when it comes to actually thinking through how his plans will effect other people. Poor thing, he didn't even give you a name, did he?" She lifted the baby into her arms, practice on her friends children removing any worries she might otherwise have had about picking up an infant, and gently stroked the back of his head when he gummed at her collar. "You're Jake's attempt at joshing me, are you? All right, Joshua Egbert, I won't throw you out into the streets. Come in and see your new home, and let's hope you won't need nappies before I can get you to the store."

And she supposed that in a way this was her destiny fulfilled at last. Her brother had given her a children, and in stories wasn't it always the way of of a prophecy to end up twisted?

**Author's Note:**

> I must give credit to the book Ballet Slippers and the character Gum within it for inspiring me about how Nanna got dad. I hope that you enjoyed!


End file.
